Department for Transport

Heathrow Airport

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for deciding whether to allow a third runway at Heathrow.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: A number of important decisions on airport capacity were taken by the Government in December, including to accept the case for expansion in the South-East. However, we must take the time to get the decision right on a preferred scheme. The Government is further considering the environmental impacts and the best possible measures to mitigate the impacts of expansion, this work will conclude by summer 2016.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the legal requirements for MOT testing are a devolved matter in Scotland; what assessment they have made of the requirement for new vehicles to be subject to MOT testing after the first three years of use; and which other EU countries follow the present UK practice.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The legal requirements for MOT are not a devolved matter in Scotland. Following the commitment made by the Chancellor in the July 2015 budget statement, the Department for Transport is currently developing a public consultation and impact assessment which will consider options for extending the frequency of the first test for some vehicles. The consultation will take into account the potential benefits to consumers, the government’s safety priorities, as well as the impact a change may have on MOT garage businesses. I anticipate that the consultation will be published in the summer. The other EU countries currently requiring a vehicle to have an initial roadworthiness inspection at 3 years, as per the current GB practice are; Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Bulgaria.

Home Office

Alcoholic Drinks

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of powdered or vaporised alcohol and its availability.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government is taking action to ensure that alcohol in a powdered or vapourised form is subject to controls under the Licensing Act 2003 through a clause in the Policing and Crime Bill currently before Parliament.This amends the definition of alcohol to cover its form in any state. We are not aware of powdered alcohol being sold in the UK. Vaporised alcohol is sold as a novelty item and its sale has not been widespread across the UK. Licensing authorities treat it in the same way as liquid alcohol for licensing purposes.

Department of Health

Accident and Emergency Departments

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether total Accident and Emergency (A&E) waiting times are calculated, for the purposes of reporting, from the time the ambulance arrives at A&E or from the time the patient enters the A&E Department.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Accident and emergency (A&E) waiting times for patients who arrive by ambulance start either when the ambulance crew hand over the patient to the A&E department, or 15 minutes after the ambulance registers its arrival at A&E, whichever is earlier.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many European Health Insurance Cards they have issued to citizens of each European Economic Area country in each of the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government does not hold the information requested. The United Kingdom European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) enable people living in the UK to travel to the European Economic Area safe in the knowledge that they will be able to receive free or reduced cost healthcare should they need it. Entitlement to EHICs (in all European Economic Area countries) is based on ‘insurability’ under European Union law, not on a person’s nationality. In the UK, we operate a residency-based healthcare system which means that, ‘insurability’ is generally determined by a person’s residency status.

Department for Work and Pensions

Local Housing Allowance

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to protect and enhance the amount of local housing allowance paid by local authorities in England in order to meet the accommodation and support needs of persons with learning disabilities.

Lord Freud: A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 1 March 2016 to announce that the effect of the Local Housing Allowance cap for those living in social sector supported housing, including those with learning disabilities, would be deferred by a year, pending the outcome of a review. We have done this because we understand the importance of ensuring that both those living in supported housing and those who provide this type of accommodation receive appropriate protections. This is why we are awaiting the outcome of a “Supported Accommodation” research project and subsequent policy review, to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and appropriate groups are safeguarded

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprentices: Taxation

Lord Aberdare: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in developing the IT system to support the delivery of the Digital Apprenticeship Voucher, and what plans they have for testing and piloting that scheme.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The digital apprenticeship service is being built by the Skills Funding Agency in accordance with Cabinet Office best practice. To ensure that the service is focused on employer and training provider needs we are performing extensive user research. The service will build on insights gathered from over 2000 employers and around 400 training providers. To make sure that the service is ready for the levy in April 2017, we plan to launch a substantial pilot with employers and providers later this year. Further details on the apprenticeship levy and the digital apprenticeship service are available in the guide for employers which was published in April: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work 



Apprenticeship levy - how it will work
(Word Document, 49.88 KB)

UK Trade with EU

Lord Bowness: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of leaving the EU on businesses that trade with the EU, and what guidance they have given to affected businesses about how they might communicate that impact.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Her Majesty’s Treasury published a comprehensive analysis of benefits and costs of membership of a reformed EU and the alternatives on 18 April. This included boxes detailing the impact of EU membership on key business sectors such as financial services, aerospace and pharmaceuticals. According to this analysis, key sectors would be worse off due to reduced access to the Single Market. For example, losing customs-free movement of goods could cause customs delays. In time-sensitive industries, each hour of customs delay can reduce trade by 5%. Treasury analysis also provides a sectoral breakdown of the 3.3 million jobs which are linked to trade with the EU. The Prime Minister has spoken about the benefits of EU membership at a number of businesses throughout the UK. The transcripts of these are available on the gov.uk website.